Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Losing the Rat Race - Winning at Life

- An inordinate emphasis on external matters - good looks, wealth, power, popularity, fame.- A profound feeling that life is a great competition, that we must not allow ourselves to fall behind.- An acceptance of standards set by others; a drive towards conformity even at the risk of betraying one's own values;- A willingness to abandon ethical standards at times in order to advance oneself.- A realization at some point and on some level the rat race is ultimately meaningless. What have I achieved by winning? Has success brought me real happiness?

It would seem that being in the Rat Race is not an all or nothing thing. Since we are all influenced to some degree by American Culture, we need to constantly work on extricating ourself from the race.